Well, hey everybody, I'm Adam Schell, the pastor of Melbourne Heights, and welcome to our sermon podcast. And I just want to start out by thanking you for spending part of your day with us. And if you're blessed during our time together today, let me invite you to come and worship with us live on Sunday mornings at 10.30 a.m. Eastern Time.
You can worship with us live on our church website at mhbclouisville.com slash live. Or if you're in the Louisville, Kentucky area, we would love to have you come and join us in person. With that, let's get right into this episode's sermon. So during our time together last week, we started by talking about a problem that all of us have had at Christmas at one point or another in our lives.
Now, maybe you've experienced this problem when you were picking up the shreds of wrapping paper off your living room floor on Christmas morning when all the gifts had been opened up. Place on your tree, getting them packed away so that you could have all your Christmas decorations up before we make it too far into the new year. Or maybe you've had this problem when you said goodbye to the last of your Christmas gifts who came to visit, or Christmas guests who came to visit on Christmas Day. But at one point or another, all of us have felt the way that Charlie Brown felt at the beginning of the classic Christmas special, A Charlie Brown Christmas.
When Charlie Brown looks over at his best friend Linus and he says to Linus, I think there must be something wrong with me. Christmas is coming, but I'm still not happy. I just don't feel the way that I'm supposed to feel. I just don't understand Christmas, I guess.
I might be getting Christmas presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that, but I'm still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed. So even though Christmas is supposed to be a time, we know it's supposed to be a time of joy and happiness, sometimes we still feel a little bit depressed at Christmas. Or there are times when we feel a little disappointed at Christmas, because we've all felt let down at Christmas.
It's happened to all of us. We've all felt let down at Christmas. But none of us wants to feel that way, right? None of us want to feel a little depressed at Christmas.
None of us want to feel a little disappointed at Christmas. None of us want to feel let down at Christmas. And that was also true of Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang. So they're going to spend most of this special trying different things to be able to avoid feeling let down at Christmas.
And this Christmas season, we're taking a closer look at some of the things that the Peanuts gang tried to do to avoid feeling let down to see if they can teach us anything that will help keep us from feeling that same way this Christmas. So that's when we spent our time together talking about the first thing that Charlie Brown tries to do to avoid feeling let down at Christmas. And he goes and he visits Lucy at her psychiatric booth. And when he talks to Lucy, Lucy tells him the problem that he's having is that he's just not doing enough Christmassy things.
So Charlie Brown spends the rest of the special being busy and just doing all these things. But at the end, he still feels a little let down at Christmas. So that clearly wasn't the secret to avoiding the feelings that none of us want to have this time of year. So now let's talk about the next thing that happens in the movie.
The next thing the Peanuts gang is going to try to avoid feeling let down at Christmas. And this one starts playing out about the same time that Charlie Brown's session with Lucy comes to an end. As the session is winding down, Charlie Brown sees his beloved beagle, Snoopy, walking by with his arms filled with a box that is stuffed full of all kinds of Christmas decorations. So Charlie Brown follows Snoopy back to their house.
And he watches as Snoopy starts decorating his doghouse with a display that Clark Griswold would be proud of. And when Charlie Brown asks him, what's going on here? Snoopy hands him a flyer. And Charlie Brown takes the flyer from him and he reads that flyer and it says, find the true meaning of Christmas.
Win money, money, money. Spectacular. Super colossal neighborhoods, lights, and display contest. When Charlie Brown finishes reading that flyer, he realizes that his dog hasn't been decorating his doghouse because he loves this time of year.
And Snoopy hasn't been decorating his doghouse because he's hoping to share a little bit of Christmas joy with whoever happens to see all of his lights and decorations. No, Snoopy has been decorating his doghouse because he wants to win a contest and to make a little bit of money along the way. And in the scene, Snoopy shows us something that a lot of us think is the secret to avoiding feeling let down at Christmas. The scene shows us that we think that we can avoid feeling let down at Christmas as long as we get everything we want out of this season.
Snoopy wants to win that contest, he wants you to make that money. And that's not all. You watch the special and you'll see that Snoopy is pretty well only focused on himself throughout the entire movie. But Snoopy is far from the first Christmas character who has ever behaved this way.
Today we're going to be taking a closer look at the story of another famous, or maybe a better word is infamous, character that we find in the story of the very first Christmas, who's really only concerned about himself as the story unfolds. So I want to take a closer look at his story today, so if you've got a Bible post by or a Bible app on your phone, I encourage you to open it to Matthew chapter 2. Matthew chapter 2, and as you're finding it, let me just remind you that the book of Matthew is essentially a biography of Jesus. So in the book of Matthew, you can read all about Jesus' time on this earth.
And that includes the story of Jesus' birth. But in Matthew's account of Jesus' birth, Matthew is far more concerned with the surrounding characters in the story than he is with Jesus' actual birth. So today I want us to look at how one of these characters responds when he hears the good news that Jesus has come. So let's take a look at Matthew chapter 2 together, and we're going to start reading in verse 1.
Here's what Matthew writes. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in the territory of Judea, during the rule of King Herod, Magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked, where is the newborn king of the Jews? We've seen his star in the east, and we've come to honor him.
When Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. Now when we read these few verses here, it's not really difficult to figure out why Herod is troubled when the wise men come and deliver this message to him. Herod is troubled because Herod is the current king of the Jews. So when the wise men tell him that there is a newborn king of the Jews, that naturally means that Herod has to be on his way out because there can only be one king, right?
Well, what if I told you that there's actually more to Herod's story that most of us have missed out on, even though we have heard this story countless times over the years? And what if I told you that the rest of Herod's story actually makes his reaction when he hears the news from the Magi that there's a newborn king of the Jews a little bit more surprising? Well, that might make you wonder what it is that you've been missing from the story over the years. And the thing that we have been missing from the story over the years is something that an ancient historian, a guy by the name of Nicholas from Damascus tells us, and he explains to us that Herod is actually the descendant of a prominent family who returned to Israel about 500 years earlier after the Babylonian exile came to an end.
And what that means to us is that Herod is not just the king of the Jews, Herod is also Jewish himself. And based on some of the things that Herod does while he is the king of the Jews, it can be argued that Herod at least took his faith somewhat seriously. And that's because Herod's big claim to fame, aside from being the king of the Jews when Jesus was born, is that Herod rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. And saying that Herod rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem is a little bit like saying that Walt Disney decided that he wanted to build another little park in Florida after he finished making Disneyland in California.
Because before Herod came around, the temple in Jerusalem was a relatively small place. It was about the same size as the tabernacle that we read about in the book of Exodus, that portable tent of the people of Israel once worshipped God. But when Herod shows up, he doesn't just rebuild the temple. Herod is going to build up all of the area that surrounds the temple.
And this project becomes so big and elaborate that it takes over 60 years for this project to be completed. And I think it's safe for us to say that anybody who is going to devote 60 years, that much time, that much energy, and all of the money that had to go into that project, into building a temple, has to at least know a little something about their faith. Let me explain why all of this matters to us. It matters to us because of a basic belief that a lot of people in Israel would have had, not only during the time that King Herod was reigning as the king of the Jews, but it was also believed that many people in Israel had had for centuries before Herod ever came to the throne.
And this belief was that God was going to send a new king to the people of Israel. And this king would come from the same line, the same lineage, as the greatest king in Israel's history, King David. And this new king would help restore the kingdom of Israel. We're good.
And this new king, this long-awaited king, is commonly referred to as the Messiah. So when the wise men come and they tell Herod that there is this newborn king of the Jews, they're not warning Herod that there is a threat to his throne. They're telling Herod that the king, that the people of Israel and Herod himself had been waiting for for centuries had finally arrived. So Herod should have been excited when he heard the wise men's message.
He should have celebrated when he heard this news that there is a newborn king of the Jews. He should have wanted to go running straight out of his palace to find this Messiah himself. But that's not what Herod does. So let's take a look at what Herod actually does.
Picking back up in Matthew chapter 2 verse 4, this is what Matthew tells us. Says he, that is King Herod, gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts, and he asked them where the Christ was to be born. They said in Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote. You, Bethlehem, land of Judah, by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah, because from you will come one who governs, who will shepherd my people, Israel.
Then Herod secretly called for the Magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go, and search carefully for the child. When you have found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him. When they heard the king, they went, and looked the stars that they had seen.
And the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house, and they saw that the child was Mary, his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him.
Then they opened their treasure chest and presented him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route. When Herod knew the Magi had fooled him, he grew very angry. And he sent soldiers to kill all the children in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding territory, who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had learned from the Magi.
So instead of celebrating when Herod hears the good news that the Messiah has come, Herod orders one of the most atrocious acts of violence that we find in the entire New Testament. Instead of being excited that there is a newborn king of the Jews, Herod orders the execution of every small boy in that entire area. How on earth could Herod do something like that? Well, to answer that question, you need to know a little bit more about who Herod was.
And Herod came to power during a pretty tumultuous time in Israel's history. As you probably are well aware, when Herod came to power, Israel was under Roman rule. They were conquered and they were occupied by the Roman Empire. But what you may not know is that during the same period of time, there was still one prominent family in Israel, the Hasmonean family, who were continuing to fight for Israel's independence.
Well, Herod, who was just the governor of Galilee at this point, reaches a deal with the Roman Empire. And he agrees that he will assassinate the head of the Hasmonean family, the family that has been fighting for Israel's independence, as long as Rome agrees that they will appoint Herod to be the king of the Jews. And that's exactly what happens. Herod kills, he assassins the head of the Hasmoneans, has him assassinated, and then Herod becomes the king.
But once Herod becomes king, one of his first official acts as the king of the Jews, is he ordered the execution of 45 of the most staunched supporters of the Hasmonean family. And then, in what is purely a calculated political move, Herod then marries into the Hasmonean family, hoping that that will alleviate any future threat of a rebellion from the family. But even all of that's not enough to ease Herod's growing sense of paranoia, and it doesn't take long before Herod turns his attention to his own family members. And it doesn't take long before he orders that one of his own nephews, a nephew that Herod himself appointed to become high priest in Israel, he ordered that this nephew be drowned when his nephew started becoming a little too popular and became a threat to Herod.
And Herod didn't stop there. He also went on to order the execution of his grandfather-in-law, his mother-in-law, even his own wife. And even that wasn't enough to convince him that his family still wasn't out to get him. So Herod changes his will at least seven different times, appointing seven different heirs to secede him as the king of Jews.
And it also leads him to have his three oldest sons executed so that they didn't try to take the crown from him when he started to get a little bit older. And those are just the broad brushstrokes of Herod's life, okay? There is no telling how many people Herod had executed just so he could sleep a little bit easier at night. So you can say that Herod was cool.
You can say that he was manipulative. You can say that he was power-hungry. You can say that he was a tyrant. And it would still all be a huge understatement.
But this is why Herod wouldn't have hesitated to order the execution of a bunch of innocent children. Because in Herod's mind, there can only be one king of the Jews. And Herod was willing to do anything to make sure that he was that king. So even though the people of Israel have been waiting centuries for Jesus, for the Messiah to be born, when Herod hears this good news, he feels let down.
Because the only thing that Herod is concerned with is himself. So when he hears what the Magi come to him and say, that there is a newborn king of the Jews, the only thought that was running through Herod's mind was, this is going to mess everything up for me. And I know what I'm about to say might very well hurt your feelings just a little bit. Because none of us want to think that we could possibly have anything in common with someone like Herod.
But we do. We can feel let down at Christmas for the same reason that Herod felt let down that first Christmas. We feel let down because we make Christmas about us. We feel let down at Christmas because we make Christmas about us.
And when we do this, when we make Christmas about us, when things don't go the way that we want them to go, when things don't go according to the plans that we have made, when we don't get the presents that we want to receive, when people don't appreciate the efforts that we put in to putting together and organizing our family gatherings or whatever else, we feel let down because things didn't go the way that we want them to go. Because all of us have a tendency to be just a little bit selfish at Christmas. And if you need a reminder that shows you how selfish we can be at Christmas, just think about all the Christmas lists that you have made at one point or another in your lifetime. And there's a great scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas that reminds us of what our Christmas lists sound like.
It's a scene where Charlie Brown and Sally's little sister, Sally, write her letter to Santa Claus. And Sally starts out her letter by kissing up to Santa Claus just a little bit, making sure that she's on his good side. And then Sally says to Santa, she wants her brother to write this down. He says, I have been extra good this year, so I have a long list of presents that I want.
Size and color of each item and send as many as possible. And you're already starting to laugh a little bit at that. It would be bad enough if Sally stopped there. But Sally doesn't stop there.
She continues to say, And if all of this is too complicated, then make it easy on yourself. Just a money. How about tens and twenties? And I'm not saying all this because I'm trying to criticize the cartoon character.
I'm saying this because all of us have acted that way at Christmas. All of us have made Christmas lists that sound a little bit like Sally Brown's. All of us have tried to get as much out of Santa Claus as we possibly can. one point or another.
And all of this, this is just how selfish we can be when it comes to presents and the things, the gifts that we want to receive at Christmas time. But we're not just selfish when it comes to the presents that we want at Christmas. We can be selfish about a lot of other things as well. Like a lot of us can be selfish when it comes to our favorite Christmas traditions, right?
If you're the kind of person who loves to decorate for Christmas time, how would you feel if your family decided they were going to decorate the Christmas tree without you? You'd probably feel a little let down. Or if you are the kind of person who loves hosting your family's Christmas celebration, how would you feel if your kids came to you and said, Mom, Dad, we want to be the ones to host Christmas this year? Or if you're like me and you love Christmas movies, how would you feel if you weren't going to be able to watch your favorite Christmas movie this year?
Because I remember not that long ago how upset people were when Apple got the rights to show a Charlie Brown Christmas, but the only place they were going to show that was on their streaming service, Apple TV instead of network television. And goodness, were people up in arms, so they weren't going to get to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas that year. So let's just be honest here. We can all be a little selfish at Christmas.
Okay, that's not actually being honest. If we're really being honest, we have to be a lot selfish at Christmas. But we're not the point of Christmas. And this is why we can still feel let down at Christmas, even when we get everything that we want.
We can feel let down because Christmas isn't about us. Christmas is about Jesus. Christmas isn't about us. Christmas is about Jesus.
And that's what Herod failed to realize when the wise men came to him and they told him about this newborn king of the Jews. When Herod heard this news that there is a newborn king of the Jews that everyone in Israel had been waiting for for centuries, all Herod could think about was what that message meant to him. But he never stopped to think about what that good news meant to the rest of the world. And what that good news meant and what that good news means to the rest of the world is that God loves us so much, that God came into this world, that he became one of us.
Because God wants to know what it's like to be us. God wants to experience your pain. God wanted to experience our suffering so that God could heal us and make us whole. And that's the way that God feels about all of us, every single person, not just me, not just you.
So if you don't want to feel let down this Christmas, here's what I want to challenge you to do. I want to challenge you to look beyond yourself this Christmas. And I want you to notice the people that you pass every single day, the people that surround you, that God loves so much that he sent his son into this world for. Because that's what Herod, and that's what Snoopy, and that's what Sally all failed to do.
At Christmas, their only focus is on themselves and what Christmas might mean for them. Herod was worried. He thought Christmas meant that he was on his way out as the king of Jews. Snoopy, all he wanted for Christmas was to win that lights and sleigh contest and make a little bit of money for himself.
And all Sally wanted was to get as many items and sizes and colors as she possibly could, that she wanted. But they never stopped to think about what Christmas meant for everyone else. And they didn't stop to think about how much the people around them needed to hear that good news, that God loved them so much, that God loves us so much, that he came into this world for us. So this Christmas, I want to challenge you to notice the people that are all around you.
And remember that God sent his son into the world for them too, and that Jesus didn't just come for you. And I want you to find ways that you can show the good news of Jesus and share the love of God with these people. And it can be little things. You can show and you can share the love of God by doing something as small as just having a smile on your face when you're standing in the checkout line, instead of grumping and complaining about how long the lines get at Christmas time.
You can show and you can share the love of God with other people by being nice to that seasonal employee that is working the cash register and is taking a little bit longer to get all of your items checked out because they've only been working in that store for like two weeks. Because I've been on the other side of that. I've had seasonal employees when I used to manage a toy store myself. I can tell you how mean people can be at Christmas to kids who are just learning how to do their job.
So you can share a little bit of kindness there. You can show and you can share the love of God by doing something as small as holding the door open at the mall when that person is coming out with their arms loaded down with packages and presents that they're going to be giving out that Christmas season. But you can also go a step further. You can show and you can share the love of God by inviting that neighbor that you have that you know is going to be spending this Christmas season all alone to come and share a meal with your family during the holidays.
There are a million different things that you can do. If you've been saving up a little bit of money because you wanted to buy a bigger inflable to put out in your front yard, you can decide that you want to give some of that money to help a family in need this Christmas season. But I want to challenge you to look beyond yourself. See the people around you who need to experience and receive this good news of Christmas for themselves.
But whatever you do this Christmas, don't make your focus yourself. Don't make yourself the focus of Christmas this year. Instead, make Christ the focus of your Christmas. Make Christ the focus of your Christmas and do something, whether it's big, whether it's little, but do something to share and to show the good news of Jesus with others.
And if you do that, maybe, just maybe, you won't feel quite so let down when this Christmas season is over. Let's pray together. God, as we come to you in this time of prayer, we have to admit that there are times when we are all tempted to make Christmas about us. We make Christmas about getting the presents that we want to get.
We make Christmas about going to the parties or the celebrations that we want to go to. We make Christmas about the traditions that we love to participate in. But God, we get so busy focusing on ourselves that we forget that Christmas isn't about us. We are not the point of the season at all.
Jesus is the point of the season. So God, instead of spending so much time thinking about us and what we want, show us what you want. Show us how you want us to live our lives, not only this Christmas, but every day of the year. Help us look beyond ourselves and see the people all around us that pass by every single day that you love so much that you sent your son into this world for.
And God, help us to love them too. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. I just want to thank you for tuning in to this episode of our sermon podcast.
And I hope that you've been blessed during our time together. If that's happened, once again, I want to invite you to come and worship with us live on Sunday mornings at 1030 a.m. Eastern Time. You can do that by joining us on our first website at nhbclouisville.com slash live.
Or if you're in the Louisville, Kentucky area, you can also worship with us in person. And that's going to do it for this episode of our sermon podcast. But I want to invite you to come back and join us again when our next episode drops next week. But until then, I'll be praying for you.
I hope that you have a great week. And we'll see you back here soon for another sermon podcast.